Johnsonburg native Peterson promoted to Class AA Erie

Andy Close

Sports Editor

aclose@timesobserver.com

Johnsonburg native Cole Peterson will be playing a little closer to home now.

Peterson, a shortstop in the Detroit Tigers organization, was promoted from High Class A Lakeland to Class AA Erie late Tuesday night.

His list of accolades as a high school athlete are highlighted by leading the Rams to a Class A state title as a senior in 2013, becoming just the sixth player in state history to throw a complete game shutout in a state championships game.

In basketball, he scored 1,598 career points and helped lead the Rams to the Class A state title game as a junior.

He played collegiatelly at St. Bonaventure University, earning first team Atlantic 10 honors as a junior, hitting .335 with an A-10 leading 24 stolen bases.

At the conclusion of his junior season, he was selected by the Tigers in the 13th round of the 2017 MLB Draft.

He was a mid-season All-Star for the Low A West Michigan Whitecaps last season, hitting .277 before getting promoted to Lakeland.

An elite defensive shortstop, Peterson earned a 2018 Gold Glove as the best defensive shortstop in the organization and also earned an MILBY for the best defensive play in the minors last season with a diving catch with his back to the infield in a game on May 22. He is also one of just a handful of shortstops in all of minor league baseball with a defensive rating of 70 on the 20-80 scale used by Major League scouts, which rates as plus-plus.

Offensively, Peterson was hitting .292 for Lakeland at the time of his promotion, with a .337 on-base percentage and .688 OPS.